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Indonesia books trade surplus again amid ‘concerning’ import decline
Indonesia has logged a trade surplus in a trend that began in May last year as commodity prices have picked up while the pandemic has battered demand for imported goods.
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Business as usual: Workers assemble Isuzu Traga trucks at an Isuzu factory in East Karawang, West Java, on Aug. 3, 2020. Manufacturing has remained the backbone of Indonesia’s economy during the pandemic. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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ndonesia has again logged a trade surplus in a trend that began in May last year as commodity prices have picked up while the COVID-19 pandemic has battered demand for imported goods.
According to data published by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) on Monday, Indonesia booked a surplus of US$1.96 billion in January. While the surplus is the lowest since June, with both exports and imports down from the previous month, the figure marks a stark contrast to a trade deficit of $640 million registered in January last year.
Exports fell to $15.30 billion in January, down 7.48 percent from $16.54 billion in December 2020, which was the highest figure since 2013. Despite the monthly drop, exports in January are up 12.24 percent from the same month last year as major trading partners like China have re-emerged from the pandemic.
Imports in January, however, were down both from the previous month and from January last year, falling by 7.59 percent month-to-month (mtm) and 6.49 percent year-on-year (yoy) to $13.34 billion amid low demand for raw materials and capital goods for manufacturing.
“One thing that has to be our concern is imports that are still declining,” BPS head Suhariyanto said in a virtual press conference on Monday, adding that the imports remained “below expectations.”
Like global trade, Indonesia’s trade has suffered from the pandemic, which has caused logistical disruptions and declines in domestic demand and purchasing power as a result of social restrictions implemented to curb the virus spread.
